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Vrindavana & Braja Samadhis

There are basically three types of samadhis in Vrindavana. They are: full body, pushpa, and smriti (memory). A full body samadhi contains the full body of a realized Vaishnava buried in the earth. A pushpa samadhi is made by entombing flowers worn by a Vaishnava before his body is put into samadhi. During the sixteenth century many Vaishnavas were cremated and their ashes were put into the ground to avoid desecration by the Muslims. Samadhis made from the ashes of a Vaishnava also fall in this category.

A smriti (memory) samadhi preserves the memory of a departed Vaishnava by memorializing some of his personal items. These usually include an asana (sitting place), japa beads, clothes, sastra (scriptures), shoes, a walking stick, etc. Things used by an elevated Vaishnava are accepted as worshipable. In Vrindavana there is even a danta (tooth) samadhi of Sri Gadadhara Pandit.
Another type of samadhi is a nama samadhi. Nama means, “name”. This type of samadhi is established to remember and worship an exalted Vaishnava. A nama samadhi consists of carving a Vaishnava’s name on a block of marble or granite and then putting that stone in a sacred place. There are 64 nama samadhis near the Govindaji temple.

Normally a samadhis is placed near a temple or where a devotee did his bhajana. It is said that Jiva Gosvami did bhajana in the exact place where his samadhi is located. Lokanatha Gosvami, Bhugarbha Gosvami and Prabodhananda Gosvami all did bhajana at the places where their samadhis are located.

Original Samadhis in Braja
These are samadhis that contain the actual body or ashes of great Vaishnava devotees:

Sanatana Gosvami Madana Mohan Temple
Rupa Gosvami Radha Damodara Temple
Jiva Gosvami Radha Damodara Temple
Raghunatha Dasa Gosvami Radha Kunda
Gopala Bhatta Gosvami Radha-Raman Temple
Raghunatha Bhatta Gosvami Radha Kunda
Lokanatha Gosvami Gokulananda Temple
Bhugarbha Gosvami Radha Damodara Temple
Prabodhananda Gosvami Kaliya Ghata
Kasisvara Pandita Gosvami 64 Samadhis Area
Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Gosvami Radha Kunda
Gauri Dasa Pandita Radha Syama-raya Temple
Srinivasa Acarya Vrindavana
Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur Gokulananda Temple
Subuddhi Raya 64 Samadhis Area
Madhu Pandit Gosvami Radha Gopinatha Temple
Ramacandra Kaviraja Vrindavana

Copyright ©2001 John Howley and Spiritual Guides